Holly Fortier is a Cree/Dene from Ft. McKay First Nation, Alberta. Born in Treaty 7 Territory she was fortunate to be raised by cultural leaders, academics and activists. She owns a business specializing in developing and delivering Indigenous Awareness Training. She has been providing training across Canada since 2007 to thousands of participants from government, corporate clients, educators, service organizations, and first responders.
Her passion for sharing Indigenous history and culture arises out of her mother’s inspirational survival from a childhood in an Indian Residential School, a story of courage, resilience and eventual triumph. Holly’s presentations go beyond facts and statistics to insightful personal testimony delivered in a compassionate, non-judgmental way. Those who attend her training describe them as “life-changing” where they learn things they have never heard before and see complicated cultural issues with a new perspective.
Holly sees it as her mission to encourage respect and understanding between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians. To that end, she has launched a new film and television company called Two Canoes Media, teaming with Pyramid Productions of Calgary, veteran producers of thousands of episodes of television series and documentaries for international networks, including National Geographic, A&E, HBO, CBC, CTV, and Animal Planet.
Two Canoes Media is now producing high-end marketing videos and documentaries, many of them award-winning. You can learn more at twocanoesmedia.com.
Holly has been involved in the Alberta film industry since the early 1990s, working on projects such as North of 60, The Assassination of Jesse James, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, The Revenant, and many documentaries.
She received the 2016 Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women Esquao Award for Culture and the 2018 Alberta Aboriginal Role Model Award. She is on the board of NAIITS: An Indigenous Learning Community. Holly received an Honorary Degree from Olds College in 2022. In 2023, she received the Alberta Chamber of Resources Indigenous Leadership Award.
She says her biggest blessing is being a mother to her daughter and two sons and Kokum to three granddaughters.
You can contact Holly at: holly.fortier@shaw.ca
